TELECOMS
SingTel to buy two ad firms
Singapore Telecom (SingTel), Southeast Asia’s biggest telecom firm by revenue, yesterday said it would buy two mobile advertising companies for a total of US$385 million to further boost its digital business. Amobee, a digital advertising firm fully owned by SingTel, said in a statement it had signed agreements to buy Adconion, a cross-channel digital advertising company as well as Kontera Technologies, a digital content intelligence and marketing technology firm. Adconion Direct North America and Adconion Australia will be acquired for US$235 million including debt, while US-based Kontera will cost US$150 million.
HEALTH
Ramsay buys French firm
Ramsay Health Care yesterday said it had taken control of Generale de Sante to become France’s largest private hospital operator. The Australian healthcare provider and its partner, insurer Credit Agricole Assurances, acquired 83.43 percent of Generale de Sante, with Ramsay’s 57 percent share costing it 429 million euros (US$580.8 mllion). Generale de Sante is a leading operator of private hospitals in France comprising 75 facilities, including 61 hospitals, and employs 19,000.
TECHNOLOGY
EU to probe Apple tax
The European Commission was to launch a formal investigation yesterday into Apple Inc’s tax arrangements in Ireland, Irish state broadcaster RTE reported, without naming its source. Apple’s Irish arrangement helped it achieve an effective tax rate of just 3.7 percent on its non-US income last year, its annual report shows.
TRADE
US, Japan hopeful on TPP
The US and Japan should reach a compromise in trade negotiations to help conclude a trans-Pacific free-trade pact by the end of the year, a senior Japanese official said on Tuesday. Japan External Trade Organization chairman Hiroyuki Ishige told a Washington think tank that political leaders on both sides need to make bold decisions and recognize the strategic importance of finalizing the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). Acting US Deputy Trade Representative Wendy Cutler said there had been progress in the auto talks, “but we still have a lot of work to do.”
BANKING
Top bankers get 37% more
London investment bankers at top firms including Bank of America Corp, Deutsche Bank AG and Goldman Sachs Group Inc get bonuses 37 percent higher than counterparts at smaller firms, according to Emolument.com. Managing directors at large firms typically receive bonuses of £400,000 (US$670,000) and a base salary of £275,000, the compensation research firm said in a statement. Directors are paid bonuses of about £192,000 and fixed pay of £170,000, it said.
AUTOMAKERS
Toyota recalls 2.27m cars
Toyota Motor Corp says it is recalling 2.27 million vehicles due to problems with front passenger airbag inflators. Toyota yesterday said it was notifying owners of vehicles involved in last year’s safety recall, including 766,300 in the US, to replace airbag inflators. It said it had missed some of the affected devices due to incomplete serial numbers from the supplier. The inflators contained improperly made propellant that could cause them to work abnormally, and possibly cause fires, in case of a crash. Of the total number of vehicles affected by the current recall, 650,000 are in Japan and 1.62 million outside Japan.
Stephen Garrett, a 27-year-old graduate student, always thought he would study in China, but first the country’s restrictive COVID-19 policies made it nearly impossible and now he has other concerns. The cost is one deterrent, but Garrett is more worried about restrictions on academic freedom and the personal risk of being stranded in China. He is not alone. Only about 700 American students are studying at Chinese universities, down from a peak of nearly 25,000 a decade ago, while there are nearly 300,000 Chinese students at US schools. Some young Americans are discouraged from investing their time in China by what they see
MAJOR DROP: CEO Tim Cook, who is visiting Hanoi, pledged the firm was committed to Vietnam after its smartphone shipments declined 9.6% annually in the first quarter Apple Inc yesterday said it would increase spending on suppliers in Vietnam, a key production hub, as CEO Tim Cook arrived in the country for a two-day visit. The iPhone maker announced the news in a statement on its Web site, but gave no details of how much it would spend or where the money would go. Cook is expected to meet programmers, content creators and students during his visit, online newspaper VnExpress reported. The visit comes as US President Joe Biden’s administration seeks to ramp up Vietnam’s role in the global tech supply chain to reduce the US’ dependence on China. Images on
New apartments in Taiwan’s major cities are getting smaller, while old apartments are increasingly occupied by older people, many of whom live alone, government data showed. The phenomenon has to do with sharpening unaffordable property prices and an aging population, property brokers said. Apartments with one bedroom that are two years old or older have gained a noticeable presence in the nation’s six special municipalities as well as Hsinchu county and city in the past five years, Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房產集團) found, citing data from the government’s real-price transaction platform. In Taipei, apartments with one bedroom accounted for 19 percent of deals last
US CONSCULTANT: The US Department of Commerce’s Ursula Burns is a rarely seen US government consultant to be put forward to sit on the board, nominated as an independent director Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday nominated 10 candidates for its new board of directors, including Ursula Burns from the US Department of Commerce. It is rare that TSMC has nominated a US government consultant to sit on its board. Burns was nominated as one of seven independent directors. She is vice chair of the department’s Advisory Council on Supply Chain Competitiveness. Burns is to stand for election at TSMC’s annual shareholders’ meeting on June 4 along with the rest of the candidates. TSMC chairman Mark Liu (劉德音) was not on the list after in December last